


Catskin and the Frog Prince

by TrinesRUs



Category: Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: A little bit of all of that, Also Dani and Hayley dance together for reasons, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tale Style, Fractured Fairy Tale, mild verbal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 21:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2041452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrinesRUs/pseuds/TrinesRUs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hayley's nobleman father always wanted a son, so the only logical thing to do is arrange a marriage for his daughter. Thing is, her fiancé has a horrible reputation amongst more magical folk, and Hayley would rather avoid this arrangement and find true love if she could.</p>
<p>Funny, how things work out.</p>
<p>(Rescue Bots mixed with fairytales, primarily The Princess and the Frog and Catskin.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catskin and the Frog Prince

**Author's Note:**

> I never meant to write this; it was just too much fun not to.

            On an island isolated from much of the world and known as Griffin Rock, where nature and the mystical creatures who rule it live in harmony with humans, lived a nobleman with vast lands, sturdy home, great wealth, and a beautiful wife. Although the times when sons were more valued than daughters were in the past, he still wished for a son. After many years, he at last begat a child.

            It was to his dissatisfaction, however, to find that his wife birthed to him a daughter. A bonny lass was she, with flaxen hair to match her mother’s and eyes the color of sea foam, but a son she was not. Alas, before another child could be born, her mother grew ill and passed away.

            The nobleman loved his daughter and raised her to the best of his ability. He named her Hayley for the hay-like color of her hair. He made sure she had the best tutors and grew a large, beautiful garden in her honor. If she wanted for anything, it was only because the man did not wish for her to become spoiled and demanding. Such a concern almost seemed silly, because for many years, she asked for nothing but time to spend amongst her flowers.

            As the years passed and Hayley grew to adulthood, the nobleman’s yearning for a son did not ebb. If anything, it grew to an ache. Having never remarried himself, he decided that the only solution to his woes was to do as society expected for his daughter anyway and marry her off.

            As chance would have it, another family of noble lineage had several children, the eldest of whom was a man of Hayley’s age seeking a wife. Overjoyed at the turn of fate, the nobleman sent correspondence to the head of the other household immediately so that the union might be arranged. Within a few days, he received two pieces of correspondence: one from the father that proclaimed, “I don’t make decisions for my sons or daughter, so it’s really up to Kade,” and one from the eldest son saying, “Sure, sweet.”

            Well, it was a yes.

            That evening at supper, the nobleman could barely contain his delight at the news he had to share with his singular child. So eager was he to tell her that he could wait no longer than dessert could be served for his words to spill out. “I have arranged for you a marriage, my sweet daughter.”

            “What?” she startled. “With who? When?”

            He wondered why she must ask “what” when she clearly knew what and say “who” instead of “whom.” Regardless, he answered, “You are to be wed to Kade of the House of Fire as soon as he arrives in a sennight.”

            Hayley had never laid eyes on Kade, but she had heard of the man from the fairies in her garden. He was an impatient, dim-witted, arrogant man with hair like flame. They knew him to court danger by mocking his magical neighbors and boasting of his every success, even in front of the griffins for which their island was named, creatures known for their loathing of pride. She concluded that she must think quickly for a way out of this unfavorable arrangement.

            “Do I get a say in this?” asked she. Her father affirmed that she did, so she crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, “Fine. Then I won’t marry him unless I get a gown woven from moonbeams and starlight before he gets here.”

            “Rotten child!” he exclaimed. “Has your life of luxury decayed your sense of respect?”

            “Dad, do I ask you for that much? I can only remember requesting a little time in my garden. Is wanting one extravagant dress before my wedding really that awful of me?”

            He grudgingly admitted that his daughter was generally unselfish, so he could grant her this one ridiculous demand. So he had the seamstress brought before him and set her on the task of making this gown of moonbeams and starlight. Hayley relaxed meanwhile, assuming that such a gown would be impossible to make.

            To her dismay, a stunning, silvery gown of moonbeams and starlight was presented a mere two days later. The day of her unwanted marriage was that much closer, and because she had not considered her gift possible, she did not have a new plan to prevent her father from his will. She knew that she would again have to think quickly.

            When her father saw her gloomy expression, he admonished her, “Why must you be sad? These are very happy times. You have your beautiful gown, and soon, you will have a husband from a highly respected family. Come, come. Be merry!”

            “I would be, dad, but…Well, this gown is so beautiful, and I thank you and our seamstress, but it’s so much prettier than all my other dresses! What if Kade were to see me in this and then get disappointed when none of my others are so fine? Could I please have one more before I get married?”

            He agreed that she made a reasonable point about her wardrobe. “Alright, my daughter. But what gown could match the one I have given you this day?”

            “May I have one spun from sunlight?” she asked.

            The request sounded even more absurd than the last. However, as the seamstress had managed to bring the last together, he had no reason to doubt her abilities. He had her brought before him again and ordered her to make this gown of sunlight. Hayley rested secure in her assumption that no such dress could be made.

            Thus, it was again to her alarm and sadness that, only two days later, she was presented with a gorgeous, golden gown spun from the light of the sun. The dress had cooled from its source enough to be touched without pain, but it was still warm on her skin. After this, the day of her wedding was even closer than it was before, and she still had yet to find a way to escape.

            Once again, her father saw her upset. He began to grow angry with his daughter. “How can you be so miserable when life is going so well for you? Now, you have two gowns more beautiful than any in the land and a fine husband on the way!”

            “Yeah, I know,” she said glumly. “These dresses are very nice, and I’m very grateful for them, but I believe I may miss the handiwork of our talented seamstress when I’m with my new family. May I have one more dress before I go?”

            Her demands got more unbelievable the more the week went on, the nobleman knew, but the memory of all those years when she requested nothing at all made him more willing to bend to her wishes then. “I will grant you _one_ more,” he said, “and only one.”

            Hayley had thought very carefully about this one. She was sure that not even her father or her seamstress could provide it. “I want a gown made from the feathers of a phoenix, a strix, a boobrie, an augurey, a roc, a fwooper, and an orphan bird, sewn with the hair of a unicorn. I will not marry Kade until I have it.”

            To her father, unknowledgeable in the world of magical creatures, the request sounded simple in comparison to the previous two. He summoned the seamstress and ordered her to make the dress.

            However, the seamstress and Hayley both knew what an impossible task she had set up. The birds she ordered feathers to be collected from lived in very different parts of the world, and at least a couple of them were quite dangerous. Further, even after circumventing the issue of unicorns only approaching virgins, unicorn hair was notorious for being difficult to spin into thread and even harder to sew augurey, phoenix, and roc feathers with.

            So convinced was she that the dress could not be made that, when two days pass and no garment was presented, she was certain it would not be finished in time at all. But the morning of her wedding arrived, and the feather dress was lain on the chair at her mirror. The gown was quite a beauty to behold, even more eye-catching and magnificent than either of the dresses before it. The seamstress had managed to blend all the different feather lengths, colors, and textures into a brilliant composition.

            At that point, Hayley could no longer prevent herself from tearing up. When confronted by her father about her tears, she answers only that, “I’m crying from joy, dad. I have the three most beautiful dresses in existence, and soon I’ll be married to a good man.”

            But she was certain that her wedding was nothing to be happy about. The fairies had many great, flattering things to say about the father of her fiancé and his youngest brother, and decent things to say of his other two siblings, but little of what she heard about her fiancé himself pleased her. She was certain that she was doomed to a very unhappy future with a man she wouldn’t love.

            She decided she would pay one last visit to her garden before she left her father’s property to live with her soon-to-be husband. She wished to say goodbye to the fairies who had been such helpful eyes and ears around the island for her. When she reached the garden, however, there were no fairies to be found. She parted the bushes in an effort to find them, but still they remained missing.

            What she found in their place was a cloak made of catskin. Hayley realized that it must have been a parting gift from the beings who had been her friends since childhood. She returned to her room and stowed the three impossible dresses in a chest. Then, robing herself in the catskin cloak and taking the chest, she stole into the forest and ran away.

            Hayley traveled for many days and nights until her feet grew sore and she began to ache from hunger. She eventually found herself very near the Castle Pynch and decided to settle there. She found a pond a far enough distance from the castle to avoid being seen and stowed her chest of treasures amongst the rushes and reeds.

            From there, she approached the Castle and knocked on its great doors. Queen Pynch herself answered, and Hayley begged for a job as a scullery maid, for she knew that if her noble birth were known, she would surely be returned to her father and forced to marry Kade. The Queen, pleased to have such willing service, agreed and set her up in the kitchen.

            Many times a day, the Princess, Priscilla, would visit her in the kitchen. But it was never for company. Anytime Princess Priscilla visited, it was sure to mean insults and pots thrown her way. “Ugh, you’re so dirty, and your clothes are tattered and out of fashion. Who wears icky catskin, anyway?”

            Typically, Hayley responded to these encounters with nothing. She could not lash out and risk the queen’s retaliation, nor could she reveal her identity to anyone within the castle walls. Since she did not give Priscilla a name to call her, the princess took to simply using “Catskin.”

            In her position of little note, though, “Catskin” was able to learn all sorts of interesting news from around the island. The piece she encountered that most fascinates her was the rumor that the eldest son from the House of Fire had been turned into a frog by a witch for his pride. She felt more pity for him than satisfaction. The other interesting news she heard, not long after the first, was that King and Queen Luskey of the neighboring kingdom were having a ball.

            “I want to go to the ball,” she sighed, thinking herself alone.

            A vicious laugh rang out from behind her, and she turned to see the cruel face of the princess. “You? At a ball? What a lovely image _you’d_ be,” Priscilla snorted. “I’m sure _everyone_ would love to see a maid of your status there.”

            Hayley flushed with feigned shame at being caught. Later, when the queen and princess had already left for the ball, she sneaked out of the castle and made her way to the pond.

            There, she meant to wash herself and dress in the first of her gowns, but she found a very peculiar frog. The strangest thing about it was that it looked about ready to eat a piece from a _Cicuta virosa_ plant. Being the tender soul that she is, she scooped the frog up in her hand and pulled it away. “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”

            “Oh yeah? Why not?” the frog asked abruptly.

            Hayley nearly dropped him, startled as she was. She did not know frogs could talk. Once the information settled, she decided it would be rude not to reply. “Because it’s water hemlock. It’s poisonous.”

            The frog had been struggling in her grip, but the moment she said that, he stilled. She could feel him breathing against her hand, but nothing other than that. “Oh. Right. Could you, maybe, put me down?”

            “Right,” she said, gently tipping him back into the water. She watched him swim for a moment. Then, she bent down, cupped some water in her hands, and splashed it on her face. The water felt nice and cool, and she was able to wash off all the grime on her face, neck, arms, and legs.

            “You know, you’re surprisingly cute for a maid,” the frog said while she was busy examining her rags.

            “Thanks. You’re surprisingly chatty for a frog,” she replied. He chuckled good-naturedly at her words. “Do you think you could give me some privacy while I bathe the rest of the way?”

            The frog appeared suddenly abashed, and he hopped out of the water. “Sure thing, but uh…Could you tell me which of these other plants are poisonous before I kill myself on accident?”

            She talked him through which plants around the pond were best to eat and best to avoid. Once that was through, he turned away from the pond. With the new privacy, “Catskin” was able to shed her catskin and other rags and bathe herself in the crisp pond water. When she got out, she hid her rags and dressed in the silver gown of moonbeams.

            Hayley hurried away to go on to the ball, but before she left the pond behind completely, she suddenly remembered the rumor about Kade she had heard. She turned back to ask the frog if that was him, but he had disappeared before she could get the words out.

            Heads turned in her direction the moment she entered the ballroom. No one knew how to introduce her as they had never seen such a woman, but it was clear from her extravagant gown that she must have been someone of wealth and status. And such a beauty on her own! Why, even women were swooning at the sight of her!

            Many of the guests asked her for a dance, and she accepted many of the offers. It was quickly noted how very light on her feet she was. She was the very essence of beauty and grace.

            Eventually, she did have to take a break from dancing, and in that time, she was introduced to the noble House of Fire that almost was her family. She counted only one father, two brothers, and one sister among their ranks. The father’s name was, she learned, Charles. He was even kinder a man than her fairy friends had claimed, and his youngest son, Cody, was just as much more adorable. The middle brother, Graham, was a bit withdrawn and not very keen to dancing, and the sister, Dani, was better at leading than following in a dance.

            Dani had the kindness to share a dance with Hayley, to everyone’s amusement. Afterwards, Hayley spent much of the evening into the night with the House of Fire. She found that she quite enjoyed their company. She had to wonder, though she would not voice it, if Kade’s absence meant that the rumors about him were true.

            At the stroke of midnight, however, the doors to the ballroom opened once more, and in walked a man with hair like flame. His shoulders and chest were broad and his stomach lean. He had a square jaw and prominent chin. His suit was very fine, though an oddly-chosen and mystifyingly appealing tint of green. There was a pregnant pause in the room before his name was announced, “Sir Kade of the House of Fire.”

            Hayley afforded a curious look at the man she would have had to marry had she not run away. There was a certain smug air about him that she could not deny, but his manner seemed far milder than the fairies stories would have ever suggested. In fact, beneath the layer of haughtiness, she could almost sense a simple joy to be present with everyone.

            Kade almost instantly located his family as though drawn by an invisible force. The blonde belatedly realized that the brightness of her dress might have been an assisting factor. When he reached them, his very first action was to ruffle Cody’s hair affectionately. “You still awake this late, squirt?”

            Cody pouted and rearranged his hair. “Yes, I _am_.”

            “Glad you could make it, son,” said Charles. The look shared between the nobleman and his eldest son held a weight and significance that Hayley could not interpret.

            “So, who is our enchanting friend here?” Kade asked, eyeing her with curiosity and obvious captivation.

            “She didn’t give us a name,” Graham said.

            “Nor do I plan to. Sorry, but a girl has her secrets.”

            “Those secrets wouldn’t keep her from accepting an invitation to dance, would they?” Kade offered her a gloved hand, and she accepted with ease. There was little harm in sparing a dance with the man whose engagement she had escaped, she supposed, especially when he would not recognize her.

            From the description the fairies had given of him, she expected him to be an unreasonable beast of a man. Such was not the case. He clearly thought that he was the most handsome face in the room, and he did not shy away from talking about his accomplishments, but he could manage conversation beyond that. He told her stories of how his family’s social stature has never prevented them from assisting even the lowliest of people in need.

            It still was not enough to redeem him in her eyes, but then he turned the conversation to her. “So, what’s with all the secrecy? Wicked stepmother try to lock you in a room so you couldn’t come to the ball, or…?”

            “Dad arranged a marriage to a man will a bullish reputation without my consent, actually,” she confessed. The words were pointed, and though she hoped he would not figure out her identity from them. She intended only to use her words to prevent further questioning down that particular route.

            “Ah.” Kade appeared slightly uncomfortable at her words. “That would be kind of bad, wouldn’t it?” He turned them both around abruptly as though to shake off the previous topic.

            When it became too late in the night, they bowed to each other and went their separate ways. Hayley was the first to leave, as she had to return to her rags and the Castle Pynch before her employer realized where she had gone.

            She continued to use her role as scullery maid to eavesdrop without detection. From what she gathered, the appearance of the beautiful maiden with the gown of moonbeams and starlight had caused a stir among the kingdoms of Griffin Rock. No one could stop wondering who she was or where she went. Before long, it was announced that King and Queen Luskey were holding another ball to try to see her again.

            “It must be lovely to attend balls,” sighed the noblewoman-in-disguise while she scrubbed a plate. “To dance and wear fine dresses and chat with all those people of wealth. What I wouldn’t give to come along.”

            “You, Catskin?” scoffed Princess Priscilla. “The only place you belong is on the streets, and you’re lucky my mother allows you into her kitchen instead. The very idea of _you_ at a ball! Could you imagine it? I guess at least the _real_ guests could have a nice laugh.”

            Once again, she waited for Queen and Princess Pynch to leave for the ball before she sneaked out of the castle for herself. She hurried to the pond again, quickly but quietly so as to avoid being noticed. When she got to the pond, she called out, “Frog?”

            She watched as he slowly surfaced. When he saw who it was, he began to hop out of the water without being asked. “In need of another bath, mystery maid?”

            “Yes. Privacy, please,” she said, but he was already facing away from her. In quiet broken only by the wind through the reeds and the trickle of water, she washed herself. As she cleaned the underside of one leg, she asked, “Are you an enchanted frog or a cursed man?”

            He started at the question, but did not turn around out of respect for her. “A cursed man,” he admitted. “Though I probably deserved it. My fate would be much worse if I hadn’t met you.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Among other things, I’d be dead if you hadn’t stopped me from eating hemlock last time. I didn’t thank you properly last time for saving my life. So…thanks.”

            “No problem.” She rose from the pond and dressed quickly in the second dress, the one spun of golden sunlight. After the chill of the water, the comforting warmth it radiated felt especially nice. “Can I get your name, now that I know you are a man?” she asked.

            “No, I don’t plan to give it to you,” the transfigured-man relied, returning to the water. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his response, but she had to hurry on to the ball before long.

            Upon stepping inside, heads turned once more in her direction. Her dress was again more dazzling than any those in attendance had seen, and the way it shined lent a glow to her golden hair and made it even more beautiful. The guests all gasped as the mysterious women they had already known to be striking appeared even more dazzling the second time.

            This time, though she received just as many, if not more, invitations to dance, she declined most of them and immediately set out to find the House of Fire. She enjoyed her time with them last ball so very much. Dani’s request for a dance was the first of the night that she accepted, and the two of them together managed to convince Graham to try it at least once.

            She learned much more about the family this ball than she had the one before. For example, Dani revealed herself to be in a flight force, partnered with several harpies and so skilled with her artificial wings that some suspected her to be part harpy herself. Graham, meanwhile, aligned himself more with dwarves (which was the most shocking revelation of the night, considering his slight frame and beardless face).

            The absence of Kade amongst their numbers was again noticed, but before she could ask, midnight struck and the eldest son of their family entered. He wore the same suit as the last time or one so similar that it could be mistaken for the same, but for some reason, it looked even better on him the second time. Hayley realized in a bolt of awareness that it was because there was more humility in his aura when he arrived the second night.

            He did not approach her immediately after arriving, first addressing his family as he did before. She could not decide whether she was disappointed in not being able to speak with him right away or endeared by his obvious affection and loyalty to them. She did read something significant in the way his family looked at him, but she said nothing about it.

            When he turned his attention on her after a few minutes, he held out his hand and said, “Would you do me the honor of another dance?”

            She agreed and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. They used their time together to chat about interests and little facts about themselves. He listened to her discuss her interest in plants at length. She learned that he was knighted for his service in controlling dragons and their damage.

            As the night drew on, however, she had to excuse herself to leave. She had to return to her rags and the Castle Pynch before the Queen or her obnoxious daughter got back and found her missing. Kade only kept her from leaving long enough to kiss the back of her hand, and then allowed her to hurry home.

            The rumors that spread after that second ball were very interesting indeed. Because no one knew where the mysteriously charming girl with the most extraordinary gowns or Sir Kade were in between the events, and because the two spent much of the evenings together, people were beginning to suspect there was more going on between the two of them than what was public. The mildest of these involved expecting a marriage announcement soon. King and Queen Luskey had announced a third ball to be held, and many suspected it to be an excuse to observe the potential couple.

            Hayley was able to learn all this because no one thought a lowly scullery maid could use such information anyway. Trying to hide the knowing sparkle in her eyes, she forced herself to frown, and she lamented, “I wish I could go to fabulous balls all the time. It must be so fun to meet a handsome, brave man and fall in love.”

            Princess Priscilla Pynch yanked her long, blonde hair and says. “As if they’d let you through the door, Catskin. I’m still surprised my mom let you through ours. Quit your useless dreaming and get back to work.”

            The disguised noblewoman pretended to whimper and nodded. Once the queen and her rotten daughter left, though, she did as she had done the times before and sneaked out to the pond where she would wash and change her clothes.

           When she reached the pond, she again warned the man-in-frog-form of her presence and her wish for privacy. He hopped out before she had finished her requests and averted his eyes from her body. She had gotten through most of her wash when he asked, “Why do you pretend to be a maid? And why do you sneak out to wash here before dressing up and running away?”

            Hayley noted something familiar about his voice, but she did not comment. “I pretend to be a maid because it suits my needs. I wash out here because I must pretend to be a maid. And I dress up because I have fine dresses and I want to go to the balls.” As she put on the final, most beautiful dress, she asked, “Why were you cursed to be a frog?”

            At first, she did not think he was going to answer, and she began to walk away. Before she could get out of earshot, though, she heard him say something about witches and arrogance. She smiled to herself, though she had no solid proof for her hypothesis yet.

            Heads turned on her entrance once again, and the ballroom went silent as the dead in their graves. The rumors that had been churned out since the previous ball were surely part of the reasoning, but there was no denying that her dress was part of it. It was even more beautiful than the silver dress of moonbeams and starlight or the golden dress of the sun, and many in the area knew how difficult sewing augurey, phoenix, and roc feathers with unicorn hair can be. Such an impossible, gorgeous dress existing alone would have been enough to quiet the din, but on the mysterious and beautiful noblewoman who no one knew the name of, she probably could have kept them from breathing if she simply asked it.

            So absolutely stunned as the rest of the crowd was, it was left to Dani to offer Hayley her first dance of the night. Eyes followed the two women around the floor, and it took until the end of their dance for conversation to start up once more. Dani rolled her eyes at the rest of the guests, excluding her family. “The things people say in this town and the way it affects life here, geez.”

            “It can be funny, even if you just laugh at how ridiculous they are,” offered Hayley.

            “And they’re very ridiculous. A false image charm once convinced some of these lovely aristocrats that manticores were attacking. Even people right at the site where the action was supposedly happening thought it was real.”

            Hayley spent the evening laughing and talking and dancing with the members of the House of Burns as she had done the previous two balls. As happened in the previous two balls, Kade entered at the stroke of midnight and not a moment sooner or later. He greeted his family and then asked her to dance. She agreed.

            But throughout this third ball, talking was harder. They had an audience. They had to keep their voices low to avoid eavesdroppers, and even then, some people made excuses to get closer to the couple. Despite that, she managed to get her most important question to him without anyone else hearing: “You don’t see your family often these days, do you?”

            His hands on her hand and back tightened slightly for a brief moment before slackening again. “How did you know?” he asked.

            “You look as though you miss them a lot when you see them.”

            He did not seem able to formulate a response to that for a good many moments. “Do you ever miss your dad?”

            “Every day,” she confessed, “but I don’t know if I can go back to him. I’m certain I’ve made him very upset by now.”

            There was another silent moment between them after that, just the music playing and their feet moving together to the tempo. One dance bled into the next as each just enjoyed the company the other provided. The only time Kade spoke up before the time for Hayley to leave as usual was to ask for her favorite flower.

            “Oh, many!” she exclaimed. “It’s hard to choose just one, but I’ll try to narrow it down to two: daisies and blue roses.”

            When it grew very late, she excused herself as usual and rushed back to the pond to return to her rags and go back to the castle before Queen Pynch or Princess Priscilla noticed she had been gone. But this time, she had cut her time very close, and Kade had to leave much closer to the time she normally would than the other two nights. As such, when he returned to his pond and began to morph back into a frog, he saw where she was staying.

            The very next day, the word was spreading rapidly that the mysterious woman and Kade were most certainly involved. No news of another ball was present, but arguments were being had over whether or not the couple had officialized their relationship yet or if they even would. Hayley only shook her head at all of this, although the idea of marrying Kade did make her heart leap unexpectedly.

            A knock came at the great doors to the Castle Pynch, and by chance, “Catskin” was the one to answer. She was surprised to find the man-in-frog-form there with a big bouquet of daisies and blue roses. All at once, her suspicions were confirmed, but before she could say a word, Princess Priscilla screamed, “Ew!”

            Queen Pynch was at her side at once, wondering what might have scared her daughter. When she spotted the frog, she turned to “Catskin” and demanded, “Why haven’t you killed that disgusting, slimy thing?”

            “Because ‘that disgusting, slimy thing’ is a human, only cursed to be a frog,” the man said, “And I want to marry your maid, if she’ll have me.”

            Queen Pynch scrunched her nose in distaste and said, “Fine, why not. The lowly and the cursed make a very fine pair.”

            Hayley, knowing better than either of them, picked up the frog-man right before their eyes and kissed him on his slimy head. He began to glow, and she had to let him go as he grew back to his original form as the noble Kade of the House of Fire.

            The royals gaped at the smiling couple, and then the younger one made a choking noise. “That’s not right! Nobles aren’t supposed to be with maids. How did you even _meet?_ ”

            “Because she’s not really a maid,” said Kade. He cupped her face gently with his hand and brought their foreheads together. “She’s the noblewoman Hayley of Bloomvale.”

            “How did you know?” she asked.

            “You mentioned your unhappily arranged marriage. You think I’m stupid enough not to know my own reputation?”

            “It was overblown, based on what I know about you now.” She tilted her head up and placed a quick, tender kiss on his lips. “I still wouldn’t have wanted to marry you then, but now that I know you better…I wouldn’t mind so much.”

            Kade grinned, laced their fingers together, and they left Castle Pynch very happy. They took the chest of dresses with them and traveled to his family’s home. In time, Hayley reconciled with her father. Eventually, she and Kade did marry. And they lived happily ever after.

**_Fin_ **


End file.
